Car Repair #2

After fixing the fuel line in the Mustang before going home for Christmas, I was quite disappointed to come home and find that the car didn't start. We've had some previous trouble with batteries since moving to Tucson (we're on the 3rd battery already...), so I was pretty annoyed. I called Dad for his advice, and embarked on this adventure. First, we took the battery out and over to Interstate Batteries to be tested. They said it was good, just dead. So we left it overnight to get recharged. Then, we picked it up, reinstalled it, and did a few at-home tests Dad recommended to see if we could figure out the problem. No luck, so I drove it over to Auto Zone to see what they could tell me with their free battery test. The very helpful guy there recommended installing a new regulator to see if that would fix it. After conferring with Mark and Dad again, I went back over, bought the part for less than $20, took out my old one, and put in the new one. Then, I drove the car back over to Auto Zone to be retested, and the tests were good! So, it seems that our problem has been solved. Despite being a generally reliable car while we've had it, the hiccups we've had over the last year or so make me feel more anxious about driving it. Here's hoping the next time I try to start it up everything will go smoothly. But, despite the time and running back and forth to one place and another, at least the repair was inexpensive! I've included pictures below of the old regulator (taken on my kitchen floor) and the newly installed one (I probably should have rotated both photos...). You can see that the old one was painted a matte dark gray color to match the rest of the metal under the hood; the new one is bright and shiny, (at least untill it gets coated with dust like everything else!).

In other news, Mark and I took a giant box of things over to Bookman's, the local used book store, on Friday to see if we could get any money for selling them. We had everything from video games to old cassette and VHS tapes (recently upgraded to CD and DVD) and lots of books. After waiting nearly an hour for them to go through it all (they were quite busy...I guess lots of people do this after Christmas), we were offered $9 cash or $18 store credit for the electronics stuff we brought and $3 cash or $27 store credit for the books and other stuff. We decided to take the store credit, and Mark was able to buy a component cable for his PlayStation 2. We have $30 left to spend another time. Not too bad. They also said they would donate the stuff they didn't want to buy, so we came home almost empty handed (just what we hoped for!).

Today, I did quite a bit of work around the house--the regular cleaning and laundry, plus some more cleaning out of closets and reorganizing. I hope to take a big load of stuff to Goodwill in the next few days.

During the week, I did finish my syllabus and do quite a bit of work on assignments and plans for 108 this semester. I will read over the syllabus one more time tomorrow before printing it out to turn in for approval at the meeting on Monday. I guess the beginning of the semester is really almost here already!

Right now, I'm starting on another attempt at homemade pizza. This time, I'm using a new dough recipe and my new pizza stone. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Pictures from Christmas

Here they are, finally--the pictures from Christmas in ABQ! Most of these are of the snow, which fell overnight, so we woke up to this view on Tuesday, December 22. I was excited to wake up to the few inches of snow, but a little disappointed that I had missed seeing it fall. Well, sure enough, we had more in the late morning, so I got to watch it snowing, too. Really, it was perfect!

These first pictures were taken in the morning at the Cook's house.

These ones were at my parents' house, when we went for my mom's annual Christmas Mother-Daughter Tea.

Here's the beautiful food from our tea/brunch:

I stepped away from the tea for a moment to snap these pics once we noticed the snow had started falling again...can you see the big flakes falling?

Here you can see the trestle from Pop-Pop's railroad that my dad added to his garden:

This is my dad's pond, looking very wintery! (The Zia on the wall was made by Grandpa Mike.)

Here's the little fishing shop (also from the train layout):

This one was taken later from my grandma's driveway:

On Christmas Eve, I helped Dad put out their luminarias. I didn't get to see them lit, but Julie put a picture of them at night on her blog.

Here, I was trying to catch the Sandias when they were bright pink. By the time I turned the camera on and snapped it, they had already faded a little. This is the view Grandma has from her kitchen table!

New Year

Mark and I welcomed the new year quietly--we stayed home and watched TV shows on DVD till midnight, then went to bed, but we did try to celebrate a little (mostly by having junk food for dinner :-). Since we got back to Tucson, we've spent a lot of time working around the house. It took me a couple of days to get the laundry under control (a suitcase full of dirty clothes, plus lots of new ones); and we've been unpacking and organizing DVDs and books a little each day. Yesterday, we finally got the living room more or less under control, but there's still lots to be done in Mark's room.

We did have a nice time in ABQ for Christmas--I certainly needed the family time (I think we all did). I took some pictures (especially on the day that it snowed), which I hope to post soon. Since I think most of the people who read this were with me over Christmas, I won't share any more details.

I am starting to feel like it's time for me to start preparing for the semester to begin. Not only do I need to get my syllabus ready (it's due on the 11th), but I think I need to somehow mentally prepare for the challenge of school again. Thankfully, this semester should be much easier for me. Mark, on the other hand, will be busy with auditions and a recital, but I know he'll make it all work.

It seems like I don't really have all that much to say at the moment, but I thought I should post something since it has been a while.

We survived!

The hardest semester of all time is over! Mark finished his schoolwork up on Monday, and I was able to finish my last project before my last presentation yesterday. I also got my last test back, with a good grade, so it seems everything ended nicely after all. I'm waiting for the official grades to be posted in the next week or so, but I'm not expecting any surprises. So, I have today to relax, and tomorrow to get ready to head back to ABQ for Christmas!

Car Pics

Mark figured out how to get the pictures off the camera, so here they are:

The first couple pics show the leaky line; the last one shows the leftover new fuel line that the guys at Jiffy Lube installed for me.

Feeling Better

Things are starting to look up. The weekend was pretty rough--in addition to the school stress, on Saturday night I discovered that the Mustang had been leaking gas. I was pretty unhappy about that. But, yesterday I was able to take it by Jiffy Lube to have them take a look at it (like dad recommended), and they actually fixed it for me (I just had to buy some new fuel line and clamps, for less than $5, and spend some time waiting in line so they could do it for me.) I kept the old line and took a picture, but I can't figure out how to download it from our new camera. Once I get that worked out, I'll post it. Anyway, now that the car is taken care of, I'm feeling much less anxious.

School wise, I'm also checking things off the list. On Monday, I turned in one final paper and gave a presentation; on Tuesday, I turned in another; and just a little while ago, I finished and turned in the last take-home exam. Today was the last day of classes, and tomorrow I can buckle down and get some work done on the last final project I have. I'm starting to be able to see the finish line. Mark is getting close too; he's just got juries and one presentation left. We're hoping to even have some time to put up a few Christmas decorations tomorrow so we can enjoy them for a little while before we head back to ABQ!

Pain in the neck

While I could easily be referring to the enormous to-do list I have, or any number of other small issues, I actually do have some soreness in my neck, shoulders, and upper back today. I'm not happy about the fact that every time I reach up (say, to hang some clothes on the line) or stretch out (say to try and relax after writing another section of my paper), it hurts! I suppose it's not really necessary to complain about this online for everyone to read, but it's really been bothering me all day. I think it might be a combination of grading 45 papers in 5 days (which kind of makes me tense), and sleeping funny last night, and maybe just being stressed in general, but I sure hope it goes away tomorrow. Well, enough about that; I haven't posted in a while, so I'll try to move on to something more interesting.

So, since I last wrote, I took a big test (and did well!), went home for Thanksgiving, graded all of my students' third essays, and completed the first draft of a final paper. I suppose that means things are going pretty well. Our time in ABQ was too short (as always for Thanksgiving), but overall I think it was good. Despite being a difficult holiday for both families, I think we were all able to enjoy and take comfort in each other's company.

Since we've been home, Mark and I have both been really busy. I already mentioned the essay grading, which is always both time-consuming and draining work, but I really prefer to tackle it right away and get it over with. I think I might have finished this set in record time. I've also been working on final papers/projects, and making progress, but the next week will still be quite busy. On Monday, I have a paper due plus a 15 minute presentation; Tuesday is the day I hope to turn in another paper, plus we have our last take home test (which will probably take at least 6 hours to complete); Friday, I collect my students' finals, which must be graded and final grades calculated by Monday. The following week, I have a presentation of another paper, and my last final project due on Thursday. It's a lot to manage (and I'm not even halfway done with that last project, but I haven't had time to deal with it yet!). I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel here, but it's still overwhelming. Mark is also turning in and presenting a final paper on Monday, plus he's got at least one more test next week. He also has the percussion ensemble concert tonight (and he's been at school all day setting up and rehearsing). And, he'll have juries and sight-reading tests, too. So, we're both pretty focused on just getting one thing done at a time...And, we're both really looking forward to finishing the semester! Actually, it's pretty unbelievable that we'll be back in ABQ only two weeks from now. (Of course, I'm looking forward to that!)